WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming and a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce committee, today called on his colleagues to take action on fuel economy standards this summer as the Energy and Commerce committee began to mark-up energy legislation.
Rep. Markey said during his opening statement, “The future of our country depends on adopting new fuel economy standards for autos and light trucks. Our foreign policy depends on it. Our military depends on it. Our economy depends on it Our innovative spirit depends on it. And the future of our planet depends on it. We must move away from our dangerous dependence on oil, and that starts with CAFE.”

As Rep. Markey noted in his opening statement, his ability to offer an amendment on fuel economy standards during today’s Committee mark-up has been blocked by procedural obstacles.

Rep. Markey’s full opening statement, as delivered this morning, is below:

Statement of Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA)
House Energy and Commerce Committee
Markup of Energy Legislation
Wednesday, June 27, 2007

I thank the Chairman very much and I compliment the Chairman of the Committee and the Chairman of the Subcommittee for their very hard work.

The package which we have before us today, which is a good package, captures the low-hanging fruit that I believe is central to serving as a foundation for the legislation which I think is essential to pass the Congress this year.

But at the same time, I think it’s important for us to note what is not in this bill. It has been suggested that fuel economy standards are too complicated to consider in June. I disagree.

The country has been waiting 20 years to address the issue, and it is not too complicated. It is a simple fact that for ten years we had standards, and for ten years they worked. During those ten years, from 1977 when they began to kick in, a point at which we were 46.5% dependent upon imported oil, to a point ten years later when we were only 27% dependent upon imported oil, those fuel economy standards helped our country in a very dramatic way.

But since then, for the last 20 years, all efforts to improve them have been blocked.

The future of our country depends on adopting new fuel economy standards for autos and light trucks. Our foreign policy depends upon it. Our military depends upon it. Our economy depends upon it. Our innovative spirit depends upon it. And the future of our planet depends upon it. We must move away from our dangerous dependence on oil, and that starts with CAFE.

The public wants to know if we Democrats are ready to approach our energy threats any differently than the Republicans did during the twelve years that they controlled this committee and this Congress. And this issue is the big missing piece of every energy efficiency plan that we have considered over the last two decades.

Today, once again, consideration of this issue has been blocked. The bills do not address the issue, and the rules of germaneness are being invoked to ensure that this Energy and Commerce committee does not go on record on this issue.

But we will pass a tough fuel economy standard soon, just as the Senate has done. We have reached an historic moment, and we will be tested. Iraq is a mess, and young men and women are dying every day in a struggle that all comes back, in the end, to our addiction to oil. It is our duty, our responsibility, to break that addiction.

At the same time, the urgent looming crisis of global warming continues to rise as every day goes by. And we must deal with that issue as well.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle that we work together towards including a measure which seriously deals with this issue. If we improve our fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon, as the Senate has done, we back out the equivalent of all of the oil which we import from the Persian Gulf. That would be an important statement to make to the world, but especially to those petro-terrorists who benefit from the purchase of oil in the United States that to a very large measure is then used to fund the jihadists around the world.

It is something that we must deal with. We must deal with it now. And I do believe that before this summer is done that we will have finally addressed this issue.

I thank you Mr. Chairman and I yield back the balance of my time.